[June '04 MP] night will be our darling {Andy}

dungeons | Thursday, 17th June 2004, shortly before 9pm

Glancing at her watch, Jacq stuffed a pair of socks into the pocket of her dressing gown and got to her feet, her already-made-up sleeping bag rustling softly as she did so. The Great Hall had become steadily more crowded over the past fifteen minutes, which meant it was a good time for Jacq to make her (temporary) exit.
“See ye in a bit, then,” she told Éilís, flashing a smile at her friend. “Thanks.”
She couldn’t help but feel a hint of guilt, sneaking off to see her boyfriend instead of spending as much of her final thirty-six hours at Hogwarts as she could with all of her friends in one place… but it would only be for an hour-and-a-half at most, and there was no chance she’d regret it. There was simply no known (or unknown) universe in which she wouldn’t enjoy spending time with Andy.

With a covert glance around the Hall to see if any staff members happened to be looking in her direction, she slipped out the door and began to make her way to the end of the corridor.

The Scottish witch had left no stone unturned; in classic Jacqueline fashion, she had it all planned out. As expected, most people had made their way into the Great Hall by now and so the surrounding corridors were mostly deserted. The Seventh Year knew her way around the castle blindfolded by now, and could walk each of the patrol routes similarly. Right now, her path would be clear – assuming the staff planned to use the same routes. As she walked, slippers scuffing mutedly against the flagstones, she silently rehearsed the alibi she’d devised (her fist closed around the pair of socks in her pocket, which she had allegedly gone back to her dormitory to retrieve) and reviewed her reentry-into-the-Hall-after-curfew contingency (Éilís would meet her at the toilets no later than quarter-after-ten and they would walk back in together, with Andy returning to the Hall at least a few minutes afterwards).

“I trust that all of you will be on your best behavior this evening…”[/i]
Professor McGonagall’s words at dinner less than three hours previously echoed in her mind, and the Head Girl did her best to ignore a second creeping sense of guilt. She was loathe to disappoint Professor Flitwick or Professor McGonagall, of course, should she get caught out-of-bed after curfew (which she was not planning on)… but, after all, it was her penultimate night ever at Hogwarts, she’d never gotten detention, and had been a good (she hoped) and responsible student, peer, and Prefect-now-Head-Girl. She’d always taken care to abide by the rules and follow the professors’ guidance. All of that had to count for something: an ‘insurance policy’, at the least, or perhaps even a get-out-of-jail-free pass. Easier to ask forgiveness than to seek permission, or so she’d heard; it was not a motto that Jacqueline typically took to heart, but tonight she found she quite liked the idea of it.

She made it to her destination in good time, though a quick glance around told her Andy hadn’t gotten there yet. ‘Their’ room was a secluded nook at the southeast-most corner of the castle. There was a staircase just outside the room but almost no one ever used it (that she’d seen, at least), as there were several others nearby that were more centrally-located, leaving it largely undisturbed. Despite it being on the dungeon level, it had a window. And it was, in fact, a real window, set into the side of the cliff: they had opened it once, out of curiosity (it had been a warm September day, and yet it was clearly snowing on the other side of the glass), and found that they were looking out over the lake.
The pair of them had logged many hours there over the past few years: playing chess, studying, snogging (new in the past year, of course), debating, reflecting, confiding. She wondered if others after them would stumble across it, and use it similarly. She wondered if she should tell one of them about it, to pass down the ‘secret’.

She heard footsteps approaching, then, and glanced hopefully at the door. It was still well before ten o’clock; there was no chance she’d be told-off for being out-of-bed just yet.

Sometimes it felt like time was pushing forward too quickly. The term was nearly over, and graduation was looming, and Andronicus just wished for things to slow down. He just wanted a little more time in this world that he understood, Hogwarts had been his home for seven years, and he wasn’t ready to start again. And even though there was excitement, Andronicus couldn’t pretend that he wasn’t terrified of leaving everything he knew behind to create a new life. Andronicus had already remade himself so many times over the years, and he had finally begun to love himself; he was nervous all of that would go away when he left Hogwarts. As if the castle was a part of his identity, and he’d been armorless without it.

Over the years, he had been “Andronicus Lovecraft, the bully” and “Andronicus, the apologetic.” He’d been looked over as a Prefect but awarded the coveted Quidditch Team Captain badge. But by and large, his most important and cherished role had been “Andy, Jacqueline MacClelland’s boyfriend,” And he desperately hoped the version of him that she saw would be the one who stepped out from Hogwarts. Andy was better when Jacq was around, and he was more thoughtful and controlled; he paid attention and did the right thing without thinking about it. Jacqueline had always been his north star, and she was the only thing he wasn’t worried about after Hogwarts. Regardless of where they went or what they did after, Andronicus had faith that they would always have each other.

While curfew was still a way away, Andronicus was careful not to garner any attention as he slipped out of the Great Hall. And he felt more at ease with every step away from the sleepover. The professors had been very clear about the zero tolerance for breaking curfew, but what could they do to them now? He considered it as he walked, and for the first time in the last week, the idea of graduation filled him with a sense of power. He felt invincible as he moved through the halls and found the staircase he’d taken so many times over the years. Andronicus rounded the corner and headed toward the little nook that held so many memories.

The teenager fluffed his hair with one hand and turned the doorknob with the other before smiling brightly at Jacqueline. Andronicus moved toward her, his dimpled smile growing as he got closer. “Hiya, beautiful,” He cooed, reaching for her before he’d even made it across the room.